Corona Devotionals

Have you ever witnessed (or stepped on/in) an ant hill or ant infestation?   Myriads of tiny ant-militia moving in all directions, and the sheer busy-ness of activity can be distracting, discombobulating, and overwhelming. Even just witnessing  the crowded (every direction) activity of an ant colony threatens my peace.  I didn't have ants in my pants today, but I did have ants in my mind.   Myriads of tiny ant-like arrows moving in all directions and puncturing my peace.   Worries, controls, fears.  Disappointments, expectations, goals.   The sheer busy-ness of these thoughts (and my lack of control over them) became distracting and discombobulating, and overwhelming. How will we fix  things today? How should we  confront  him or her today?  What will happen to me/my loved ones/our enemies today? Ideas and worries and frets...like a nts, ants, ants, ants, ants: all moving in different directions..all moving ...

I am not too proud to admit it...the cold broke me the other morning. I had weathered the past six to seven months of Ohio-cold fairly decently. I don't enjoy the freezing temperatures and scraping ice off of cars in the morning (every morning), but that is Ohio in the Winter, and (for the most part), I accept that. Like it, or leave it...(and many do), but I am (usually) okay with living where I do. It might have been the reality of sub-freezing temperatures in late April. It might have been losing feeling and circulation in my fingers (again) as I scraped windshields before we all set out for the day. It might have been a million other things that were out of my control that morning, but it became too much. I began to cry angry tears (directed at no one in particular) and I went inside. I ran warm water over my fingers until I could feel them again, and then I sat down and prayed , albeit angrily. Slowly, slowly, like circulation returning to frozen fingers...I felt it...

Our Nation of America will commemerate its 250th birthday this year, and that's something worth celebrating.  And, if you are my husband...it's something worth decorating.   Over the past few days, our home (inside and out) has received a star-spangled make-over.   Our house (and hearts) are publicly patriotic, and w e could not be more proud to live in this strong and wonderful Nation that was founded by God-fearing men and women.  Our current  red, white, and blue home deco publicly demonstrates the happy-pride that we feel in our hearts. One of the recent additions to our front porch is an artificial tree, and my husband  just placed the tree out there a couple days ago, and yet yesterday when he went to string some lights on it, he found a brand new, (yet) full-blown, intricately-woven and finished birds nest planted firmly in the fake branches.  We just  put the tree out there, and in no time , (and with no notice by us) a nest has...

Who w ould we say are the most important people in our life?  Family, friends, pets, neighbors.  (Place them in your own preferred order of importance.)  Friends may change over the course of our lives, but they are a common (valuable) thread in each of our lives.  How do we treat our true friends?  How should we? Who are the wrong friends to have? Did we know that the Bible answers these things for us, a nd gives us friend-guidelines?  ~~~  Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due,  when it is in your power to act. ( 28)  Do not say to your neighbor,  “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.  ~Proverbs 3:27-28  The Bible advises us to do the right thing first , and now.  If we can help someone out: do it , God says in His Word.  We should not be lazy in action or in generosity of our spirit toward others.   Don't  hold out on kindness to others today. A ...

I have a friend named Tammy, and she has a few mental challenges, but her heart is good, and one thing that I know about her is her steadfast love for cats.  She can no longer have a cat in the facility in which she lives, but whenever I see her, she inevitably shares with me (and anyone listening) about her beloved cat, Prince , whom she had to leave when she came to the facility.  Tammy worries (daily) for Prince's well-being, often to the point of tears.   “I love my baby boy”, she has often told me of her cat.  And indeed, she does love that cat.  She has asked me a number of times if I think that her “baby boy” (cat) will be in heaven?   The truth is, I am not exactly sure of what the answer to Tammy’s spiritual question will look like for us in heaven, and I haven't found a clear answer (yet) in my Bible reading over the years. However, I thought of Tammy and her sweet "baby boy", Prince, as I wrapped up in reading the last few verses in the ...

Sometimes I will feel a spiritual nudge to do something or engage with someone... and I do it.   I write the note, or pay the visit, or provide the meal.  But sometimes I feel the prompting to do God's will, and because of timing, resources, or my own self-will: I don't do it. We are human after all, and...bygones, right ?   Right--except sometimes God isn't just asking  us, He is tasking  us...and when our God  means business , ( His business), then we had better comply. An example of this in the Bible is Jonah.  An example of this in our lives is (sometimes) us. Let's talk about Jonah first. God tasked Jonah with going to the city of Nineveh and speaking to their people about the sin that they were involved in.  The only problem was: Jonah didn't want to go. God asked  Jonah to go to Nineveh. God tasked  Jonah to go to  Nineveh. But Jonah did not go to Nineveh, he caught the next ship out of town and hid in the bow of...